After a quiet 2020 amid the novel coronavirus pandemic and the historic cancellation of last summer’s in-person season, the Aspen Music Festival and School on Thursday announced a 52-day, 150-event lineup for July and August — just in time for its 72nd anniversary season.
The lineup includes star soloists like Matthew Whitaker, who will open the festival July 1, and violinist Augustin Hadelich, who will close it with the Aspen Festival Orchestra on Aug. 22, with well-known works from the repertoire along with rarer pieces and music by living composers.
Concerts will revive the themes from the canceled 2020 season — “Beethoven’s Revolution” honoring the 250th anniversary of the composer’s birth and “Uncommon Women of Note,” exploring works by female composers and performers.
New initiatives, including a robust season-long program featuring works by composers of color, resulted from a multi-year internal process at the festival evaluating diversity, equity and inclusion.
Of the performances of works by the Black British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Santourian added, “It’s finally going to come into the foreground. People will instantly ask, ‘This is beautiful music, why haven’t we heard this before?’ It’s unjustly or unjustifiably been neglected.”
See the lineup and read the full story from our partner at aspentimes.com.
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